Pours a bright, dark, golden-red with a beautiful, loose head. The aroma is gorgeous - deep dark fruitiness (cherries, plums), then getting into tobacco territory, with overtones of a herbal estate chocolate. Sweetish start moves to a moderately bitter chocolate middle, then takes on a slightly boozy accent later. The elements aren’t coming together on the tongue the way they did on the nose, which is too bad because there’s some killer stuff going on here...a little age might improve this a lot.

750 ml bottle from Beastiefan2k, enjoyed at the csbosox tasting on 3/7/08. Bottle #135, released April 2007. Pour is hazy golden orange - yellow. Aroma of floral hops, some earthiness behind. The flowery bouquet is really soft, and very nice. Taste is big on the floral hops initially, though falls apart a bit in the middle. Finish is actually really thin - makes it drinkable, but takes away a lot of the initial complexity. Thanks for giving me this one Eugene.

Nice very deep and hazy amber coloured body with brown tints and a shade of ruby. Smallish tan head with some larger bubbles on the side of the glass. Aroma of pungent hops, strong malt, toffee, nuts and even a bit of metal. Medium-bodied; Strong hops up front in the taste fading to a bit of malt and some sweet caramel flavours near the end. Aftertaste shows some hops, but mostly rounded out malt - but this could be due to the age. Overall, a good showing from the beer, but not amazing. However, by me having this bottle for 4 years shows that it could still stand up over the time. I sampled this four year old bottle purchased from Beers of the World in Rochester, New York on 01-March-2008.

Brown bottle, 355 ml, savoured on February 19 2008; eye: orangey caramel, slight effervescence, lightly hazy, coffee head made up of rather large bubbles, lots of lacing; nose: lots of Cascade hops, pine, grapefruit, a bit tired; mouth: foamy, orange zest, resinous hops, a bit of caramel, grapefruit, a bit tired, finale in resinous hops, light astringency, lightly sweet, mildly bitter, medium body, not much carbonation; overall: quite likable FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 355 ml, savourée le 19 février 2008; œil : caramel orangé, très légère effervescence, légèrement voilée, dentelle, mousse café formée de bulles plutôt grosses; nez : beaucoup de houblon Cascade, pin, pamplemousse, un peu fatigué; bouche : mousseuse, zeste d’orange, houblon résineux, un peu de caramel, pamplemousse, un peu fatigué, finale en houblon résineux, légère astringence, légèrement sucrée, moyennement amère, corps moyen, peu carbonatée; en résumé : bien aimé

Sampled on draft at Rivertowne Pub in North Huntingdon PA this beer poured a black color with a small tan head that faded fairly quickly. The aroma was lightly roasty, a bit metallic and had a hint of smoke. The flavor was sweetish, malty and had a moderate wood smoke element with a hint of roasty malts underneath. The smoke was nicely noticable but not overwhelming.

Tap at HDG - spice/herb/vegetable? - this is all weizenbock - dark mahogany brew, with minimal lace - aroma of red winter wheat, caramel, raisin - medium sweet, with dark fruits, light wheat tartness, and some bready/grainy notes - a bit of earthy flavor and orange zest - light notes of nuts and chocolate - nice.

Reddish brown, with tan or beige head (if there is a difference betwixt the two...) Aroma had some nuts in it, but mostly malts. Slightly dry. Slightly nutty. Mostly just the malts though. Maybe a little bit of chocolate... but I am not sure.

Pint pour @ HDG. Color is dark brown. The aroma is very weird, I like spiced beer but this is most different. Just some herb i cannot pinpoint with celery root or something, possibly mixed with pickling spices. Whatever, I like it. Taste is more balanced with some coffee and chocolate, spices take more of a backseat. It’s easy drinking with a light body, cannot tell that it’s this strong at all.

(Bottle 75 cl) Courtesy of MPA. Bottle #655. Pours a hazy, dark, orangey brown with a creamy, light brown head. Pleasant aroma of caramel, overripe fruit and wood. Medium body with notes of dry, lightly burned caramel and some overripe fruit. Discreet but pleasant accents from the barrel. Fairly bitter finish. A very good if not exactly outstanding Barley Wine. 120108